29-year old TE Owen Daniels has really stepped up this year with Andre Johnson banged up.  He has played in 11 games for the Texans so far this year and he has caught 41 passes for 509 yards (12.4 avg) with 3 TD grabs.  Texans’ QBs have completed 41 of 59 passes (69.5%) thrown to Daniels, so they need to keep looking for him.  Daniels has now played in 76 games in his first six years in the NFL and he has caught 286 passes for 3,481 yards (12.2 avg) with 20 TD grabs.  The Texans need Daniels to keep up the good work with QBs falling down like flies lately.

The Houston Texans have signed 36-year old QB Jake Delhomme.  Delhomme played in 5 games for the Cleveland Browns last year and he completed 93 of 149 passes (62.4%) for 872 yards with 2 TD passes and 7 INTs (63.4 QB Rating).  He also carried the ball 8 times for -2 yards (0.3 ypc) last year.  Delhomme has now played in 102 games in his NFL career so far and he has completed 1,723 of 2,904 (59.3%) for 20,764 yards with 125 TD passes and 101 INTs (81.2 QB Rating).  Delhomme has also carried the ball 175 times for 328 yards (1.9 ypc) with 7 TD runs in his career.  Delhomme is the #3 QB for now, but I could see a scenario of him moving up the depth chart in the very near future.

The Texans have lost 28-year old QB Matt Leinart for the rest of the season due to a broken left collarbone.  Leinart played in 2 games (1 start) for the Texans this year and he completed 10 of 13 passes (76.9%) for 57 yards with 1 TD pass and 0 INTs (110.1 QB Rating).  He also carried the ball 1 time for -1 yard.  The starting job at QB for the Texans now falls to 24-year old rookie Tyler Yates.  Yates played decent in replacing Matt Leinart yesterday as he completed 8 of 15 passes (53.3%) for 70 yards without a TD pass or INT (66.0 QB Rating).  He also carried the ball 4 times for -3 yards (-0.8 ypc) so far this year.  The Texans need Tyler Yates to step up because the Titans are lurking two games behind them in the AFC South.

The defense really stepped up for the Texans today and they were the big reason for a huge road win over the Jaguars.  The Texans sacked the Jags’ QBs 7 times today as they were living in the backfield.  OLB Connor Barwin was like a mad dog in a meat market today.  He led the way for the Texans with 10 tackles, 4 sacks, 5 tackles for a loss and 6 QB hits today!  Safety Glover Quin (7 tackles and 1 pass defensed) and DE J.J. Watt (7 tackles, 2 tackles for a loss, 2 sacks, 1 pass defensed and 3 QB hits) also had very solid games for the Texans today.  The Jaguars finished up with 105 yards rushing on 24 carries (4.4 ypc) and they completed 20 of 40 passes (50%) for 150 yards in this game.

The Texans just barely did enough to win this game on offense.  Matt Leinart completed 10 of 13 passes for 57 yards with 1 TD pass and 0 INTs before leaving the game due to injury.  Rookie T.J. Yates finished this game at QB and he completed 8 of 15 passes for 70 yards without a TD pass or INT.  Arian Foster led the way on the ground with 22 carries for 65 yards (3.0 ypc) with 1 TD run.  He also caught 7 passes for 24 yards (3.4 avg) today.  It all wasn’t good for Foster today though as he lost a fumble that was returned 38 yards for a TD by Jaguars’ CB Ashton Youboty.  TEs Owen Daniels (4 rec, 31 yards) and Joel Dreessen (1 rec, 20 yards, TD) led the way for the Texans in this game.  The Texans finished up with 88 yards rushing on 31 carries (2.8 ypc) and they also completed 18 of 28 passes (64.3%) for 127 yards as they had possession of the ball for 28:21.  The Texans are now 8-3 on the season.

The Texans have won four games in row (including a 24-14 win over the Jags in Houston) and they had an extra week to get ready for the re-match in Jacksonville.  The Jaguars have won 2 of their last four games as they are playing their best football of the season.  Here is a look at the matchups in this game:

When the Texans have the ball:  The Texans are likely going to be more run heavy than usual in Matt Leinart’s first start at QB, and it makes perfect sense.  Arian Foster (740 yards rushing) and Ben Tate (686 yards rushing) will share the load in this game against a Jaguars’ D that is allowing 111.2 yards rushing per game and 4.1 yards per carry.  The Texans’ O-Line has only given up 16 sacks so far this year, so Leinart should have time to throw the ball.  WR Andre Johnson will be Leinart’s #1 target as he is making his first start in six weeks.  TE Owen Daniels and WR Kevin Walter will give Leinart options if he’s in a hurry to get rid of the ball.

When the Jaguars have the ball:  The Jaguars are going to come out feeding the ball to Maurice Jones-Drew in this game.  The Texans are going to have to sell out to stop him and force rookie QB Blaine Gabbert to beat them with his arm.  Gabbert has played decent in his last two games, but he was horrible in the first game with the Texans when he completed 10 of 30 passes for only 97 yards.  The Jaguars got TE Marcedes Lewis involved more in the offense last weekend, so the safeties better be ready to deal with him this Sunday.

PREDICTION:  TEXANS 24, JAGUARS 7

The Texans have signed 28-year old QB Kellen Clemens.  Clemens played in 1 game (0 starts) for the Jets last year and he completed 1 of 2 passes (50%) for 6 yards without a TD pass or INT (56.2 QB Rating).  He also carried the ball 2 times for 9 yards (4.5 ypc) with 1 TD run last year for the Jets.  Clemens has now played in 25 games (9 starts) in his first five years in the NFL and he has completed 147 of 284 passes (51.8%) for 1,686 yards with 5 TD passes and 11 INTs (59.7 QB Rating).  He has also carried the ball 46 times for 128 yards (2.8 ypc) with 2 TD runs so far in his career.  Clemens is 4-5 (44.4%) as a starting QB in the NFL.  Clemens will start out #3 on the depth chart behind Matt Leinart and rookie T.J. Yates, but he could move up if he looks good in practice.

UPDATE:  (12/7/2011) – The Texans have released Kellen Clemens to make room for Jeff Garcia on the roster.  Clemens didn’t get into any games for the Texans.

23-year old RB Ben Tate missed his rookie season due to knee surgery in 2010, so he’s making up for lost time this year!  Tate has played in 9 games so far this year for the Texans and he has carried the ball 122 times for 686 yards (5.6 ypc) with 3 TD runs.  He has also caught 5 passes for 40 yards (8.0 avg) this year.  Tate has four 100+ yard rushing games already this year, including 2 of them after Arian Foster returned to full health!  Tate has been especially dominating since the return of Foster.  In Tate’s last four games, he has carried the ball 45 times for 324 yards (7.2 ypc) with 2 TD runs!  Ben Tate is going to be a big key for the Texans the rest of the year with Matt Schaub done for the year.  That’s because the Texans are likely to become an even more run heavy team with Matt Leinart at QB.

27-year old LB DeMeco Ryans has not played up to his ability so far this year.  Ryans has played in all 10 games for the Texans this year and he has 34 tackles, 4 tackles for a loss, 2 passes defensed and 1 forced fumble.  Ryans was a tackling machine in his first five years in the NFL, but he hasn’t looked like the same player so far in 2011.  Ryans has now played in 80 games in his first six years in the NFL and he has 607 tackles, 30 tackles for a loss, 8.5 sacks, 6 forced fumbles, 8 fumble recoveries, 23 passes defensed and 2 interceptions.  The Texans need Ryans to step up and be the player he used to be the rest of this year.

28-year old lefty throwing QB Matt Leinart will be taking over the as the Texans’ new starting QB due to Matt Schaub’s season ending injury.  Leinart has played in 1 game this year for the Texans and he hasn’t thrown a pass, but he has carried the ball 1 time for -1 yard.  He last threw a pass in a regular season game back in 2009 for the Cardinals.  Leinart has played in 30 games (17 starts) in his NFL career so far and he has completed 340 of 595 passes (57.1%) for 3,893 yards with 14 TD passes and 20 INTs (70.8 QB Rating).  He has also carried the ball 47 times for 89 yards (1.9 ypc) with 2 TD runs in his career so far.  Leinart is 7-10 (41.2%) as a starting QB in the NFL.  The Texans are a very run heavy offense, so Leinart should be able to hit on a heavy percentage of his passes off play action.  They will likely only need him to be a game manager type of QB going forward.

30-year old starting QB Matt Schaub is done for the season due to a Lisfranc injury to his foot which is going to require surgery to fix.  He played in 10 games (all starts) for the Texans this year and he completed 178 of 292 passes (61%) for 2,479 yards with 15 TD passes and 6 INTs (96.8 QB Rating).  He also carried the ball 15 times for 9 yards (0.6 ypc) with 2 TD runs this year for the Texans.  Schaub has now played in 64 games (all starts) in his first five years with the Texans and he has completed 1,382 of 2,118 passes (65.3%) for 16,903 yards with 92 TD passes and 52 INTs (94.0 QB Rating).  He has also carried the ball 133 times for 214 yards (1.6 ypc) with 4 TD runs for the Texans.  This is a HUGE blow for the Texans, who are sitting atop of the AFC South with a 7-3 record.  Getting the Texans to the playoffs now falls on 28-year old Matt Leinart.